Ingersoll Golf Course loses 10 trees in storm

Thursday

May 26, 2011 at 12:01 AMMay 26, 2011 at 3:58 AM

Ingersoll, once again, was the Rockford municipal golf course hit hardest by a severe storm. The course on West State Street was closed Monday after Sunday night’s storm, and the front nine was closed Tuesday. All 18 holes were open Wednesday, just in time for an early-morning rain to keep most golfers home.

Matt Trowbridge

Ingersoll, once again, was the Rockford municipal golf course hit hardest by a severe storm.

The course on West State Street was closed Monday after Sunday night’s storm, and the front nine was closed Tuesday. All 18 holes were open Wednesday, just in time for an early-morning rain to keep most golfers home.

Dave Claeyssens, the Rockford Park District’s co-manager of golf services, said Sandy Hollow, Sinnissippi, Elliot and Aldeen “came through pretty much unscathed” but Ingersoll lost “10 major trees” and also had branches knocked off many other trees.

The three Winnebago County courses, Macktown, Ledges and Atwood, had little trouble.

“We just had tree limbs and a lot of branches down,” said Mike Durand, the county’s director of golf.

Ingersoll, which always seems to get hit harder by high winds than other local courses, was not hurt nearly as bad as it was by the 2003 microburst. “We lost hundreds of trees then. This was not nearly as bad.

“It’s not going to make the course any easier. There are still plenty of trees out there. There were not any strategic trees that were lost. Still, you hate to lose those trees that are 80 years old.”

Top golfers and scholars
Brad Benjamin and Jeff Kellen, the two Rockford golfers who qualified for the June 6 U.S. Open sectional qualifier in St. Charles, were also both standout students.

Benjamin graduated summa cum laude from Memphis in 2009 with a 3.9 grade-point average in business finance.

Kellen was a two-time Valley Scholar Athlete who graduated this spring from Illinois State with a 3.66 GPA in history.

“You are there to get an education first,” Kellen said. “I’d be lying if I said that it was my No. 1 priority at all times, but I expect it of myself, and it’s something my parents expect of me, to do well in school.”

April rounds lost for good
Mike Durand, Winnebago County’s director of golf, said Macktown, Ledges and Atwood are even in May with last year’s rounds but were well down in April.

He said virtually every course in the area was down a good 40 percent in April because of frequent rain, and those rounds will never be made up.

“It’s like how they say you cannot win the World Series in April and May, but you can lose it,” Durand said. “Anybody who has an outdoor recreational facility in this area is realizing you can lose the season early.

“People presume the avid golfer is going to play X amount of rounds a year regardless of the weather. That’s not true. People aren’t going to double up their rounds in September and October that they lost before Memorial Day.”

Go Nuts play day June 24
The third annual WXRX Go Nuts play day to benefit testicular cancer research is June 24 at Swan Hills. The $75 cost includes greens fee, cart, beverages, T-shirt and dinner. The shotgun start is 2 p.m.

The sign-up deadline is June 10. For more information, contact Paul Anthony Arco at 815-871-1545 or paulanthonyarco.com.

Assistant sports editor Matt Trowbridge can be reached at 815-987-1383 or mtrowbridge@rrstar.com.